Ball of Fire- A Dexella AU

IIII

DEX DIZZNEE HEADED off towards his next class (Advanced Robotics, his elective), all while thinking about the two blond girls that were headed off towards the theater together. 

He- was RELATED to Sophie Foster? Well, not by blood, but having a crush on his adopted cousin wasn't exactly very proper either. 

He then thought of Marella Redek. She was a very strange puzzle of a girl, that she was. One moment, Dex thought he saw something vulnerable, and extraordinarily human underneath her stone-cold mask. Sometimes, he even saw her as somebody he would have liked to know.

When she had walked into the theater, Dex had observed the way she smiled at the deep red curtains and noticed that her smile wasn't something feral and sneaky like he had seen it when she was with her friends, but something natural, and actually... happy looking? 

And then, in the next moment, she was ignoring Sophie and staring off rudely in the distance, not even bothering to clap for her? 

Well, spending time with Marella Redek had not made him feel more comfortable around her. Instead, it had made him even warier of the girl. 

What else could she possibly be hiding? 

The bell rang again, signaling that he should be in class now. Dex suddenly realized the snail pace that he was moving at. He cursed inside his head and headed to the office for his first-ever tardy pass. This student buddy business was really messing him up. 

Pushing open the wooden door, he smiled at Mr. Leto, the assistant principal. Mr. Leto put down his papers, and without even looking up, he sighed and pulled out his tardy slips and a black ballpoint pen. 

"Name?" he asked in a bored voice that clearly told that he had seen enough late students to not even really care anymore.

"Ummm, Dexter, well, Dexter is my full name, I like to be known as Dex, so maybe you could write Dex in those little apostrophe things? Oh, and my last name is Dizznee?" Dex stuttered. 

Mr. Leto looked up from his tardy slip and clicked his pen closed. "Dex? You're Juline's son?" 

"Um, yeah?" 

"Oh well, you don't need one of these tardy passes at all! You're a student buddy right?"

Dex nodded. 

"Well then, lemme just-wait a second-" Mr. Leto turned around, pulled open a drawer, which revealed many folders with last names printed clearly on each one. "We have-hmmm-please wait for a second-ah here! Here they are!" 

He pulled out a large folder that said 'Student Buddy', which had two folders inside, one which was bursting with files, and one which was very thin. "Wait here, let me get you a pencil from my office. Please hold a second." 

He turned away and left, leaving Dex by himself in the room. He stood awkwardly above the folders. He read the names on them. The thin one said Dizznee D.  The paper-filled one said Redek M. 

Dex noticed one of the papers had fallen out and was on the floor. He picked it up and looked at the heading. Marella Redek. 

He was about to tuck the paper back into the respective folder when his curiosity got the better of him, and he glanced down at the next line. 

Therapist- Mental Health, Family, Social Situations
66523 Glidingham Street 
Dr. Elwin and Dr. Livvy 
Counsler Reccomendation

Dex heard the door, and he quickly shoved the paper back into the folder. His heart was hammering as Mr. Leto walked through the door with a newly printed piece of paper and a pencil. Dex quickly filled out the Student Buddy Excuse Paper and shoved it into the side pocket of his backpack, muttering a quick thank you and rushing out the office. 

As he headed toward his class, which he was well late for now, he was thinking. Therapist? He must have read the wrong. Why would Marella Redek ever need a therapist?  

He rounded a corner. Suddenly he bumped into somebody. He glanced downwards and saw a smug-looking boy with dark blue hair and dark brown eyes. 

"Well, hello Dizznee," he said, scoffing a little. "Look at you, all alone, late for class, all by yourself in this hallway." 

"Please move Octavian," Dex said, his voice hardening with each word. 

He shrugged. "Nah I don't think so." He cracked his knuckles. 

Suddenly, Dex felt himself being pushed up against one of the lockers, his head banging painfully on the metal. He winced sharply and slumped onto the ground. He felt something drip on the ground behind him, and saw that it was blood. 

Dex saw him come towards him again, and he braced himself for the pain. But then, from the edge of his closed eyes, he saw a very small figure walk up in front of him. 

Dex opened his eyes, and saw the back of a very short head, with wavy blond hair and minuscule braids laced through. He tried to focus on what they were saying, but everything sounded muffled. The girl seemed to be yelling at Octavian. 

"-So you better move your ass out of this hallway before I fucking kick you right where it hirts, you understand?!"  

"Redek! It's you! I-" 

"NO NICKNAMES! Now, I thought I told you to get your ass out of here?!"  

The boy's large eyes widened with fear, and he quickly turned his heel and walked away, muttering stuff about how he was planning to leave anyway.  

Marella pressed down her skirt, adjusted her braids, and turned away to leave. Dex hurriedly pushed himself off the floor and walked up behind her, tapping her on the shoulder.  

"Hey! Wait! What the heck was that? You can't just leave like this! You literally just beat the crap out of a guy with words and then you're just gonna walk away? You gotta like, at least address, like-" 

Marella turned around and faced Dex silently, her arms crossed. 

"Well, what I meant to say, was um, thanks. For uh, saving me? If that was what you did. Save me, I mean. Well, I'm not sure if you count it as saving, but I sure do. So, thanks." 

"Don't mention it," Marella replied and turned her back towards the entrance, her heels clicking on the marbled floor. 

"Wait, but I-" 

"No, seriously. That wasn't a 'You're Welcome'. I mean, literally. Don't mention it. Pretend this didn't even happen." 

"Why?" Dex asked. 

"Reasons." 

Dex watched her leave, her blond hair swishing down her back. While he was watching her go, and as he picked himself off the ground, he couldn't help but remember the piece of paper he saw. 

He shouldn't have seen that at all. That he knew. It was personal and private information, and he should banish the sight of it from his find immediately. 

But, a small part of him wanted to know more. He wanted to know why.  

'Well, he knew one thing for sure', he thought as he walked towards class. 'There was much more to Marella Redek than met the eye.'